228.2: Receiving Revelation (D&C Gospel Doctrine Lesson 5)

“This Is the Spirit of Revelation”

I would submit that the topic of the next two lessons is the single most important subject in all the gospel. Simply put, revelation is our access to everything else. It is our conduit and connection to spiritual life, to inspiration, to wisdom and guidance. It is the key to learning, to living well and serving others.

It is also complex and difficult. Lesson 5 will discuss how we can prepare ourselves to receive revelation, and Lesson 6 will discuss how we interpret revelation once we have it.

In addition to exploring the personal impact and historical context of the assigned reading, we will tackle key questions about revelation:

How do we prepare ourselves to receive revelation?
What is our role in receiving revelation?
How does our language and cultural context influence the revelation we receive?
Can we receive revelation utterly foreign to anything we currently know?
How do our own expectations and desires impact the revelation we receive?

Matt, Dorothy, and Paul join the class.

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Student Reading: Doctrine and Covenants 6; 8; 9; Joseph Smith—History 1:8–17; D&C 25:10 ; D&C 30:2; D&C 5:24; D&C 9:8; D&C 63:23 ; D&C 88:63–64; D&C 138:1–11

Additional Teacher Reading: Doctrine and Covenants 14; 42:61; 88:63–64; 1 Nephi 15:11; Moroni 10:4.); D&C 42:61; Doctrine and Covenants 63:23; 76:5–10; 93:1, 28; 101:7–8; Doctrine and Covenants 5:24; 19:23; 112:10; 136:32–33; Doctrine and Covenants 25:10; 30:2;

This is an important topic that impacts us all. Please post your questions and comments here, in the facebook group, or email them to me at MormonSundaySchool at gmail.

Here are a few pieces to get us thinking (including two short essays I wrote on the topic for a conference Richard Bushman organized).

Revelation and Language

Revelation according to our Expectations

A Freakonomics episode on how what we know influences what we learn

You can access my Lesson Notes here.

You can access my Reading Commentary here.

Thanks to James Estrada of Oak Street Audio for making quick work of post production and to Trent Oliphant for updating the episode.